The short answer: the longest continuously family-owned hotel still operating in 2026 is Hoshi Ryokan in Awazu Onsen, Japan, run by the Hoshi family for 46 generations since 718 AD and recognised by Guinness as the world's oldest family business. Below, the five hotels still in their founding families' hands, ranked by tenure, plus the three famous names that recently passed to outside owners.
By Marcus Ellison, Senior Editor · Last updated: June 12, 2026
We may earn a commission when you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Rankings are editorial; we never accept payment for placement. Every founding date, generation count and ownership change below is tied to a named source and cross-checked against the hotel's current position; we invent nothing.
Quick comparison
| Hotel & place | In family hands since | Generations | Still family-owned in 2026? |
|---|
| Hoshi Ryokan, Awazu Onsen, Japan | 718 AD | 46 | Yes (Hoshi family) |
| Brenners Park-Hotel, Baden-Baden | 1872 | Two families; Oetker since 1940s | Yes (Oetker family) |
| Hassler Roma, Rome | 1893 | Six (Wirth) | Yes (Wirth family) |
| The Goring, London | 1910 | Four (Goring) | Yes (Goring family) |
| Le Sirenuse, Positano | 1951 | Three (Sersale) | Yes (Sersale family) |
How we ranked and verified this
This list ranks hotels by length of continuous family ownership still in force in 2026, oldest tenure first. We count a property only where a single family still owns it today, or, where flagged, where it has passed through no more than two successive families (Brenners is the one such case). Each founding date and generation count is taken from the hotel's own record and cross-checked against current reporting. The hard part of a list like this is honesty about the present tense: several hotels routinely called "family-owned" have, in fact, changed hands. Where family control has ended, we do not rank the hotel; we move it to the honest note below. That rule costs us three famous names, including the single oldest hotel on earth.
The ranking, by family tenure
1
Awazu Onsen, Japan
Hoshi Ryokan
Family-run since 718 AD · 46 generations
Why it leads: no hotel still trading has been in one family longer. The Hoshi family has run this hot-spring inn at the foot of Mount Hakusan since the year 718, and Guinness World Records holds it up as the world's oldest continuously family-run business. The count now stands at 46 generations, kept unbroken in part by the Japanese practice of adopting a capable heir into the family when a bloodline runs thin. You are not buying a brand here; you are buying 1,300 years of the same family minding the same spring.
Honest note (dated): the inn took real damage in the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, and its premium Enmeikaku room has stayed closed since. As of 2026 the rest of the ryokan operates and takes bookings as normal, but confirm room type directly before you travel.
Source: Tharawat Magazine; Hoshi Ryokan.
See the oldest hotels in Asia →
2
Baden-Baden, Germany
In family hands since 1872 · Oetker since the 1940s
Why it's here: Europe's strongest continuous-family claim. Anton Alois Brenner acquired the property in 1872, and in more than 150 years the grand hotel has passed through only two owning families. The Oetker family bought in during the 1920s and took full ownership under Rudolf-August Oetker in the 1940s, making Brenners the founding house of today's Oetker Collection. The park frontage onto the Lichtentaler Allee and the Villa Stephanie spa wing are the present-day expression of a very long, very deliberate stewardship.
Who it's for: the spa-and-promenade tradition of a German Heilbad rather than a city-break hotel; Baden-Baden is the point as much as the building.
Honest note: unlike Hoshi or The Goring, Brenners has not stayed with a single bloodline; it counts as family-owned across two successive families, which is why we flag it rather than claim an unbroken line.
Source: Oetker Collection.
Read our Brenners Park-Hotel review →
3
Rome, Italy
Family-run since 1893 · Six generations (Wirth)
Why it's here: the hotel at the top of the Spanish Steps has carried the same name since 1893 and has been owned and run by the Wirth family, Swiss hoteliers, across six generations. The latest hand-off is recent and verifiable: on the 2022 death of long-time owner Roberto E. Wirth, his twin children Roberto Wirth Jr. and Veruschka Wirth took over as Executive Chairman and CEO. The hotel describes itself as the only grand hotel in Europe still privately owned and managed full-time by one family.
Worth knowing: that "only in Europe" line is the hotel's own framing; The Goring makes the parallel claim for London, and both can be true since one is city-level and one is continental.
Honest note: a top-of-the-Steps address means tourist-season crowds at the door; the calm is indoors and on the Imago terrace, not on the piazza below.
Source: Leading Hotels of the World; Roberto Wirth.
Read our Hassler Roma review →
4
London, England
The Goring
Built and owned by the Goring family since 1910 · Four generations
Why it's here: the purest single-family claim in a capital city. Otto Goring opened the hotel in 1910, reputedly the first in the world with a bathroom and central heating in every room, and it is the only hotel in London still owned and run by the family that built it. Jeremy Goring, the great-grandson and fourth generation, has led the 69-room Belgravia house since 2005. The five-star rating and the long royal connection (it was the bride's base before the 2011 royal wedding) are the public face of what is, structurally, a family business.
Who it's for: guests who want service-led, distinctly English luxury at a human scale rather than a big-brand flagship.
Honest note: at 69 rooms with no rooftop pool or sprawling spa, The Goring trades resort-style facilities for intimacy and consistency; that is the deal, and not everyone wants it.
Source: The Goring; Luxury London.
Browse London luxury hotels →
5
Positano, Amalfi Coast
Sersale family since 1951 · Three generations
Why it's here: the youngest entry, and the one that still feels most like a private home, because it was one. The Sersale siblings opened their Positano summer villa as a hotel in 1951, and three generations on it remains a Sersale property. Antonio Sersale runs it today, with sons Aldo and Francesco representing the next generation; the family's hand shows in the art, the Eau d'Italie scent line and the green-thumbed gardens rather than in a corporate playbook.
Who it's for: travellers who prize a cultured, lived-in feel and a head-on view of the Positano cascade over big-resort scale.
Honest note: Positano is steep and seasonal; arrival means steps and porters, and the hotel effectively closes in deep winter, so this is a spring-to-autumn proposition.
Source: The Italy Edit; Le Sirenuse.
Read our Le Sirenuse review →
The famous names that just left the family
Three hotels are so often called "family-owned" that leaving them off needs explaining, because in each case the family era has, recently and verifiably, ended.
Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan (Japan), family-run 705–2017. The world's oldest hotel by Guinness's 2011 certification, and the all-time record for family tenure at 52 generations. But in 2017, with no family heir available, long-serving general manager Kenjiro Kawano was made president and ownership moved to a new company, dissolving the family holding firm. Keiunkan is still the oldest hotel on earth; it is simply no longer family-owned, which is exactly why Hoshi Ryokan, not Keiunkan, tops the list above.
Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, USA, family-run 1933–2019. The Musser family preserved this vast Michigan landmark for 86 years before selling it in 2019 to KSL Capital Partners, with Pivot Hotels & Resorts taking over management. A long, genuine family chapter, now closed.
Badrutt's Palace, St. Moritz, family-founded 1896. Caspar Badrutt opened it, and five generations of Badrutts shaped Alpine luxury here. But the family no longer wholly owns it: in 2006 two-thirds of the shares passed to Hans Wiedemann, so we treat it as a former, not current, family-owned hotel.
Why family ownership still shows up in the room
The pattern across these hotels is not nostalgia, it is incentive. A family that expects to hand the hotel to a grandchild manages for the next 50 years, not the next quarter, which is why these properties tend to over-invest in fabric, retain staff for decades and resist the homogenising effect of a brand standard. The flip side is the honest one: family hotels can be slower to add the big-ticket facilities (rooftop pools, sprawling spas, app-led everything) that a deep-pocketed group rolls out, and a single owner's taste is the house style whether you share it or not. If continuity and a human-scale feel matter more to you than maximal amenities, this is your shortlist.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the longest family-owned hotel in the world?
- Hoshi Ryokan in Awazu Onsen, Japan, which has been run by the Hoshi family for 46 generations since 718 AD. Guinness World Records recognises it as the world's oldest continuously family-run business. It remains in family hands in 2026, making it the longest-tenured family-owned hotel still operating.
- Isn't Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan the oldest hotel? Is it still family-owned?
- Keiunkan, founded in 705 AD, is the oldest hotel in the world by Guinness's 2011 certification, and one family ran it for 52 generations. But that direct family control ended in 2017: with no family heir, long-serving general manager Kenjiro Kawano became president and ownership moved to a new company. So Keiunkan is the oldest hotel, but no longer family-owned, which is why Hoshi Ryokan leads our family-ownership ranking.
- What is the oldest family-owned hotel in Europe?
- By continuous family ownership, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden has the strongest claim: it has stayed in family hands since 1872, passing through only two owning families, and has belonged to the Oetker family since the 1940s. Rome's Hassler Roma (run by the Wirth family for six generations) and London's Goring (four generations of the Goring family since 1910) follow.
- Is The Goring still owned by the Goring family?
- Yes. The Goring opened in 1910 and is the only hotel in London still owned and run by the family that built it. Jeremy Goring, the fourth generation, has led the 69-room Belgravia hotel since 2005. It holds a five-star rating and is a long-standing favourite of the British royal family.
- Is Hoshi Ryokan still open after the 2024 earthquake?
- Yes. The 718-founded ryokan continues to operate in 2026, though its premium Enmeikaku room has stayed out of service because of damage from the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. The rest of the inn takes reservations as normal.
- Which famous hotels recently stopped being family-owned?
- Three notable names. Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan passed out of direct family control in 2017. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, run by the Musser family from 1933, was sold to KSL Capital Partners in 2019. And St. Moritz's Badrutt's Palace, founded by the Badrutt family in 1896, is no longer wholly family-owned after two-thirds of its shares were transferred outside the family in 2006.
- How do we verify family ownership?
- We count only hotels still owned by a single family in 2026 (or, where flagged, no more than two successive families, as at Brenners), cross-checking each hotel's own statements against current reporting. Where family control has ended, we say so and move the property to our honest note rather than the ranking. We do not invent founding dates or generation counts.
